PRESS RELEASE - July 7th, 2008 - PMA purchases shares in future of new zealand wines
PMA Canada (Peter Mielzynski Agencies Ltd) Canada’s leading Wine, Spirit and Beer Agency is pleased to announce that it has purchased shares in Terra Vitae Vineyards Limited of New Zealand. Founded in 1992, Terra Vitae Vineyards is partly owned by Villa Maria Estate Limited, which PMA proudly represents across Canada.
Terra Vitae Vineyards Ltd. has well established vineyards in Hawkes Bay and Marlborough, which long term supply arrangements in place with Villa Maria Estate Ltd. Villa Maria is a family owned New Zealand wine company. Terra Vitae Vineyards was the brainchild of Villa Maria Estate’s renowned award winning owner, George Fistonich. He had a vision to develop the most prestigious and best quality single vineyards in New Zealand.
The vineyards are the Keltern Vineyard (Hawkes Bay) 48.10 hectares, Twyford Gravels Vineyard (Hawkes Bay) 18.35 hectares, Taylors Pass Vineyard (Awatere Valley), Marlborough 75.24 hectares, Seddon Vineyard (Awatere Valley), Marlborough 84 hectares and Higgins Road Vineyard (Awatere Valley) Marlborough 151 hectares. These are among the most outstanding quality vineyards in New Zealand today producing many excellent single vineyard wines available in Canada, exclusively through PMA Canada.
Peter D. Mielzynski, President & C.E.O. of PMA Canada Ltd., commented that “PMA Canada is very proud to own shares in Terra Vitae Vineyards, especially since our partner Villa Maria Estate Ltd. is involved. New Zealand wines are among the trendiest and hottest selling wines in North America today, with superior quality and potential. PMA Canada wanted to be a part of this growth and we felt the best way to do this was by having an equity stake in these prestigious vineyards, along with our partner Villa Maria Estate.”
The New Zealand wine industry is in a high growth mode and Villa Maria Estate Ltd. together with Terra Vitae Vineyards are well positioned to take full advantage of this continuing growth.
NZ: New Zealand wine exports continue upward trend – figures
July 9th, 2008 – Source: just-drinks.com editorial team
New Zealand wine exports have increased ten-fold in the last decade according to recent statistics.
US Government figures, released today (9 July), show that ideal conditions resulted in an “Excellent Harvest” in early 2008, up 39% over the previous year.
New Zealand experienced another record-breaking harvest in the 12 months from March 2008 to February 2009. According to the 13 June 2008 estimate released by industy organisation in the New Zealand Winegrowers, grape production in MY 2008/09 reached a record 285,000 tons.
While producing vineyards continue to expand, ideal climatic conditions were a major factor accounting for the record harvest, according to the report.
Moving forward, as the New Zealand wine industy continues to expand at a rapid pace, its future growth will depend on its response to a range of production, economic and marketing challenges currently confronting the sector including water and power shortages, waste issues and exchange rates.
